Celebrating A Soldier’s Safe Return at the Disneyland Half Marathon presented by Cigna

This story has it all: runDisney magic, tears, joy and celebration.

If you participated in the 2014 Disney Princess Half Marathon presented by Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals or follow my runDisney blog posts on a regular basis, this story will be familiar. It is a follow-up to an emotional magical moment that played out at the start of the race in February, but with a new twist at the Disneyland Half Marathon presented by Cigna.

Kim Myers of Seattle, WA, traveled to Walt Disney World Resort to run the Princess Half Marathon for a couple reasons. First, she was part of a larger group running on behalf of “Wear Blue: Run to Remember,” a running organization that participates in races around the world to celebrate the sacrifice of US military and their families. Second, she was celebrating her birthday and ran to take her mind off the fact that her husband, CW2 Travis Myers, couldn’t be with her. He was serving our country in Afghanistan with the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces group. Thanks to a thoughtful husband, technology and a little Disney Magic, we were able to surprise Kim with a special birthday message from Travis who was half a world away. At that time Kim said if everything went according to plan Travis would be home in time to run the Disneyland Half Marathon with her and they not only would celebrate his return but ironically his birthday.

Well, I am happy to tell you that everything did go according to plan. Travis returned home safely to his family from his final tour of duty. And as promised he took Kim’s hand and together they ran the Disneyland Half Marathon at Disneyland Resort earlier this month.

When I recently visited Kim and Travis in Seattle, Kim told me, “I run as a way to find my own identity as a very busy person, mom, wife, fulltime job …. and a very positive way to deal with a lot of stress.”

Now, with Travis safely home, the loneliness of running alone is replaced by running with her partner in life.

“The Disneyland Half Marathon is our celebration run,” Kim said. “We’re getting out there to celebrate where we’ve come from as well as how far we have left to go, both as individuals and also together as a couple.”

I hope you will take a moment to watch Kim and Travis’ journey to the Disneyland Half Marathon. It is truly a story of love and celebration.

runDisney salutes and thanks all of our service men and women and their families around the world for keeping our country safe.

#WhyIrunDisney is dedicated to sharing compelling and motivational human-interest stories. To view submissions and to learn how to upload your story, visit irundisney.com.

Celebrating A Soldier’s Safe Return at the Disneyland Half Marathon presented by Cigna by Robert Hitchcock: Originally posted on the Disney Parks Blog